This dissertation explores certain recurrent problems in modern theories about the nature of thesubject. Taking examples from phenomenology, poststructuralism, neopragmatism and feminism, itargues that philosophical theorizing about subjectivity often assumes that the transition from thedescription of the models of meaning with which they work, to the description of the everyday practices of which they are models, can be achieved within the model. There are two aspects ofthis assumptionthat are worked out in detail with respect to the specific theory under discussion (...) ineach chapter: (i) the supposition that there must be a general description to account for diversephenomena, and (ii) the presumed primacy of that theoretical re-description. In examining the selected illustrations from phenomenology, poststructuralism, neo-pragmatism and feminism, the study sets out to show how the terminology and methods ofphilosophy, even in dissimilar or even opposing traditions, produce an object of study at a farremove from the reality they are supposed to explain. Specifically, the dissertation takes up fiverelated themes: (i) the conflation of facts about language or thinking with descriptions of workingmodels; (ii) the assumed dichotomy between "the thinking subject" as producer of language or asproduct of it; (iii) the tendency to misapply the language and thought-forms appropriate to third-person observations about states of affairs to first-person expressions; (iv) the demand thateveryday linguistic practice fulfill the conceptual requirements of the theory; and (v) the idea thatthe truth or facticity of otherwise indubitable facts about the world is somehow compromized if itis not philosophically grounded. The conceptual difficulties described here are outlined in the introduction. In the followingchapters, the problems raised are illustrated and developed by way of examples from modernphilosophy, represented by Husserl, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty and Fish, and Gilligan and Benhabib. (shrink)

What is the link between the discovery of the relativistic expanding Universe and British imperialism? A public panel debate in the early days of relativistic cosmology shows how fundamental scientific research, whether there are obvious political stakeholders (like biosecurity and climate) or not, runs real-time risks of being repurposed for political ends.

In his recent book The Value Gap (2021), Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen defends a pluralist view of final goodness and goodness-for, according to which neither concept is analysable in terms of the other. In this paper I defend a specific version of monism, namely so-called ‘Mooreanism’, according to which goodness-for is analysable partly in terms of final goodness. Rønnow-Rasmussen offers three purported counterexamples to Mooreanism. I argue that Mooreanism can accommodate two of them. The third is more problematic, but this is in (...) the end not a decisive objection. (shrink)

This thesis concerns the subject-reality relationship within the philosophy of the mature Nietzsche. The aim of this thesis is to highlight the interpretative dilemma that arises from apparent inconsistencies in Nietzsche’s analysis of that relationship. The ambivalence in Nietzsche’s ontology and epistemology leads many of his interpreters to endorse different and opposing readings of this relationship. Some interpreters are inclined to read the entirety of Nietzsche’s philosophy in light of his metaphysics. This is not the approach taken here but, it (...) is important to establish common ground with respect to the interpretation of the relationship between us, knowing subjects, and an external reality. (shrink)

This paper addresses inclusivity and howarchitectural modeling theory can be developedto enable thinking about the human and nonhumanin terms of a relation. The claim of thepaper is that the bias of the singular modelerand the human centered thinking that dominatespractice theory is a barrier to the transformationof practice. The concept modelingreflects a pragmatist way of understanding thisprocess as in the making. The propositiondiscussed in the paper is that a focus onsocio-ecological relations requires a pluralimagination of the combined human and nonhumaninterests. (...) The claim of the paper is thatthis can be facilitated by an understanding ofarchitectural modeling as a process whereseveral agents superimpose projectiveintra-representations on the situation where asolution emerges from the observation of theirshared referents. The theorizing is situated intwo practice cases: a sustainable urban designfor a housing district and an architecturalinnovation project for apartment buildings withsharing. They have been investigated throughanalysis of documents and interviews with keyactors. The latter case also included participatoryethnographic observation. The theorizingin the practice demonstrates how architecturalrepresentations enact user and resource relationsin specific ways that exclude somepossibilities in the situation. It points at thepossibility that a critical theorizing situated inpractice can help practitioners to better understandthe implications of a combined concernfor human and nonhuman interests and howthey become entangled in the specific case. (shrink)

Although the Common Law model of precedent and the Civil Law model of precedent differ in certain respects, they are also similar in important respects. In this chapter, I discuss the question of whether the common core of these models, which I call the shared view, can be squared with a theory called reasons holism. I argue (1) that if the usual reasons for following precedent are genuine, then any of these reasons may favor following precedent in some situations, but (...) not in others, and that this threatens the shared view. I also argue, however, (2) that we may coherently conceive of these reasons as conventional reasons, and that therefore the shared view will not be threatened. Moreover, I argue (3) that if ordinary legal reasons are genuine, the ratio decidendi of a precedent cannot be a genuine general norm, that following precedent can therefore not be understood as action in keeping with such a norm, and (4) that no alternative analysis of the ratio in terms of legal rules of thumb, or supervenience likeness, can solve these problems. I also argue, however, (5) that the shared view can nevertheless be defended, because the theory of reasons holism is actually rather problematic, and because even if this were not so, legal positivists could still defend the shared view, on the grounds that legal reasons are merely conventional reasons. (shrink)

In this article we discuss themes of artificial subjectivity in Ishiguro's novel Klara and the Sun. We first present a thematic overview, and some reflections upon subjectivity. The analysis proceeds in four steps pertaining to perspectives on artificial subjectivity and the narrative construction of human dignity: (1) who is human, (2) where does the heart lie, (3) the dialectical creation of the heart, and (4) reflections on subjectivity and personhood. Finally, we summarize the views suggested and emphasize their relevance to (...) society's understanding of humanity and the non-human. We also conclude that relational ontologies are more suitable to understand subjectivity and personhood, in particular in cases of interaction between the human and non-human. (shrink)

Controversial issues are often regarded as abundant in history education. Most topics can be regarded as controversial in one way or another. The purpose of this article is to analyse the way history teachers in Swedish lower secondary schools relate controversial issues to a particular view of the nature of the subject of history. By analysing statements from six teacher interviews which centred on the risks and opportunities associated with teaching about controversial issues, the authors were able to see a (...) clear relation between views on controversial issues and views on the nature of history as such. The teachers’ reactions to the introduction of controversial issues, whether introduced by the teacher or by the students, was in many cases directly related to a specific view of the subject itself and its epistemological nature. (shrink)

The primary objective of this doctoral dissertation is to thoroughly examine the phenomenon of citizenship by investment programs (CIPs) by analyzing the existing programs within the European Union (EU) as of 2018. Additionally, I aim to provide a critical legal assessment of these programs, which can be instrumental in evaluating potential future initiatives. To accomplish this, I will present an overview of the phenomenon (Chapter Two), explore the current state of the art (Chapter Three), and establish a comprehensive analytical framework (...) (Chapter Four). The analytical framework consists of two key components. The first is an exploration of the legal notion of arbitrariness and its detrimental impact on the Rule of Law, a fundamental value of the EU. I will argue that justification is the pivotal element required to prevent discretionary legal decisions or laws from becoming arbitrary. The second component is an examination of the legal notion of citizenship qua personal legal status, highlighting the prima facie impossibility of justifying the attribution of such a status on merely economic grounds. If this characterization of status civitatis is correct, then no substantive arguments can be put forth to justify its attribution for money, rendering these programs arbitrary. However, if the arguments supporting this characterization prove to be unsound and citizenship can indeed be conferred based on economic grounds, then it remains imperative to supply a justification within the realm of political discourse. An analysis of the political debates surrounding these programs (Chapter Five) will confirm the absence of robust arguments, thereby rendering the programs legally unjustified, i.e., suffering from problems of arbitrariness. Consequently, the arbitrary nature of these programs and the resultant erosion of the Rule of Law represent substantial legal grounds for EU intervention. (shrink)

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, a relatively mild global disruption, our global society experienced large-scale shortages of high-tech materials, the increasing cost or absence of many commodities usually taken for granted, and the floundering of industries that facilitate our global industrial civilisation such as shipping and aviation. By comparison, catastrophic climate change stands to be far more devastating. Body-Safe Apocalypse is an attempt to encourage a shift in thinking and practice away from the presumed possibility of eternal “sustainable” growth within a (...) digital, high-tech global context and towards a practical, grounded framework of understanding, preparing for, and working beyond the collapse of global, high-tech, industrial civilisation. The method of exploration is through an analysis of sexual materiality, the contextualisation of sexual and broader materiality within a failing industrial civilisation, and the creation of a sex toy using materials and processes accessible in a collapsing/collapsed global civilisation. As well as focusing on the craft and materiality of sexual practices in a collapse context, Body-Safe Apocalypse provides theoretical framework on collapse meant to address a current gap in design literature, critique on the current Western/anglo design paradigm that is yet to consider the catastrophic as non-speculative, and encouragement to designers to look into- and then beyond- the upheavals and endings of the systems most of us have built our lives/careers around and upon. (shrink)

Both advocates and critics of deliberative theory have regarded power relations as problems for public deliberation. Three aspects—interests, ideology and status differences—have been thought to distort deliberative processes. This article discusses a growing body of case studies that indicate that these “problems” may actually, under certain conditions, help facilitate inclusion and equality in deliberation. The crucial task is to specify the mechanisms that explain such unexpected outcomes and the conditions under which they may appear in other cases. This article specifies (...) three such mechanisms that help explain positive outcomes in a number of case studies. The argument for focusing on mechanisms and conditions serves as a correction both to critics who find the theory of deliberation naïve and to advocates who have taken the critique against deliberative theory too lightly. (shrink)

New Public Management (NPM) and Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) are two fundamental concepts within welfare professions. Both NPM and EBP are central to many debates within welfare, and often criticised as posing simplified or positivist approaches to management and knowledge utilization. Epistemologically, both are manifestations of modernity, with its emphases on standardization, control, simple causality and measurability. These epistemological similarities have not been explored as potential doorways for making modifications to NPM and EBP. The purpose of this paper is to contribute (...) to new ways of thinking and doing management and EBP of complex welfare issues by increasing the epistemological understanding of these concepts. NPM and EBP are taken here as subjects for joint conceptual analysis. The paper is guided by the following question: What is an appropriate epistemology for professionals involved in EBP and managing? Literature on NPM and EBP are analyzed together with theoretical insights from scholarship on formalization and heterogeneity of expertise, and analyzed in light of empirical examples taken from a case of a subregional social sustainability/public health initiative. Drawing on the development of post-NPM and more complex versions of EBP, the paper ends by introducing the notion post-EBP, and concludes by outlining some implications of this concept for the working professions. (shrink)

Technologies have been theorised to understand their powers to produce spacetimes – notably through Bernard Stiegler’s reading of technics as constitutive of human ontology. However, less attention has been paid to how technologies shape spacetimes according to their own distinct logics of evolution, the result being a tendency to reduce technological agency to a question of its effects on human being. The first half of the paper elaborates this problem in conversation with geographies of the digital turn. The second half (...) introduces an alternative approach through Gilbert Simondon’s ontogenetic notion of technology characterised by its own logics of evolution – what I term techno-genesis. (shrink)

Osman Hamdi Bey – an Ottoman Orientalist or a Humanist Ottoman?

In this article, the text genre of educational policies of today are identified as ›neoliberal metaphysics‹ and as bare of pedagogical reality. They lack human depth and interdisciplinary breadth. By taking stand in the approach of Hans-Georg Gadamer, a German philosopher of the so called continental tradition, this paper refers civil engagement, education and Bildung to the principles of interpersonal conversation as a mode of ›creating theory within practice‹. Considering conversational relationality in terms of pedagogical responsibility, also the ›dignity of (...) pedagogical practice‹ is explained. Gadamer’s hermeneutic-phenomenological conception of conversation is compared with an approach to language advanced by the American pragmatist, Richard Rorty. Both approaches amount to the conversational character of pedagogy instead of accountability policy that addresses purpose and compliance. (shrink)

Preconception expanded carrier screening (PECS) informs prospective parents about the risk of conceiving a child with a heritable genetic condition. PECS will also, for many, become an important screening test, and websites will likely play a vital role in providing information on this practice. The aim of this article is to examine rationalities in the information on PECS on Dutch websites. The method used is multimodal critical discourse analysis. This method allows an examination of norms and assumptions in the descriptions, (...) as well as of the positions that are discursively made available. The data consist of publicly available material on websites from two genetics departments in the Netherlands. In the results, we present the three main discourses and subject positions that were identified: risk and the couple as possible mediators of severe conditions; the focus on scientific facts and rational conceivers; and severity of the conditions and the responsible couple. In this study, we highlight the importance of acknowledging the interrelation between epistemology and ethics in the discourse on PECS. Finally, it is claimed that the focus on scientific facts in information on PECS risks making existential and ethical dilemmas and choices invisible. (shrink)

A Window to the (Dissolved) Self? : Psychedelic Ego-dissolution as a Case of Minimal Self-consciousness.

AI is a phenomenon that does not only manifest itself as a disruptive technology, but also entails a paradigmatic shift with conceivably unprecedented and unforeseeable consequences for society and the human condition. This technology with its components Big Data and Machine Learning/algorithms has evoked critical reactions because of ethical concerns that follow on the backwash of its ubiquitous and ever more expanding use. Whose voices are presently raised and what contributions can actually be expected from the information systems (IS) discipline (...) – an academic field that is prone to scrutinize phenomena that emerge when the social and technological system interact? By reviewing a systematically defined selection of the latest IS research literature and analyzing the critical perspectives, this study displays current themes in the IS discipline concerning critique of AI. The accumulation and clustering of the results can provide an answer to the question of what themes appear in the critique of AI in the IS discipline and whether a critical standpoint towards detrimental effects of AI use in society is formed. Social critique, which has no longstanding tradition in IS research, would be necessary to succeed in offering a well-informed and science-based guidance on how to face AI as a society and with the human condition as a focal point. (shrink)

What determines the meaning of a work of art? This paper considers three theories of art-critical interpretation: moderate actual intentionalism (the artist’s intention partly determines the work’s meaning), hypothetical intentionalism (the work’s meaning is the best hypothesis of what the artist could have meant), and the value-maximizing theory (interpretations which maximize the work’s value are to be preferred). I argue that moderate actual intentionalism is incoherent, collapsing either into the intentional fallacy or into an extreme form of intentionalism. I argue (...) further that hypothetical intentionalism is premised on a distinction between two orders of intention which cannot be maintained, and, trades on a mischaracterization of the force of hypothetical intentions. I argue for the value-maximizing theory, which I claim provides an elegant interpretive framework while being theoretically untroubled vis-à-vis its competitors. (shrink)

As humanity grapples with its significant global footprint in this era, there is a growing fascination with delving into the experiences and viewpoints of other animal species. This juncture offers an opportune moment to delve into the aesthetics of non-human animals by using diverse interdisciplinary methods and viewpoints. Insights of feminist aesthetics demonstrate how traditional understanding of aesthetics and aesthetic experience are heavily influenced by cultural assumptions about gender. Aesthetics as a humanistic discipline has determined the portrayal of non-human animals (...) as beings with no capacity for aesthetic sensibility. In this thesis, I aim to bring to emergence the connection between human exceptionalist assumptions about aesthetics and the production of scientific knowledge about non-human animals. I defend the necessity of recognizing birds as beings with surprising and complex aesthetic sensibilities. Currently most scientists favor the adaptationist idea that the perception of beauty is influential in non-human animal lives only insofar as it serves to advertise fitness, and favor the reproduction and survival of the species. By weaving together insights from feminist philosophy of science and post-humanist studies of the human-animal bond, I present a framework capable of challenging human exceptionalist accounts of aesthetics. Particularly, I promote a methodology sensitive to the construction of gender in scientific portrayals of birds and their aesthetic preferences. I intertwine feminist critiques to pinpoint and challenge adumbrations of androcentrism in both animal sciences and aesthetics. Finally I examine, through an ungendered framework, instances of bowerbird behavior, and pinpoint aesthetic agency as an ability that we share in orchestration with other non-human animals. I conclude by proposing new avenues for research of non-human animal aesthetics. (shrink)

Pets are often considered to be friends or part of the nuclear family, and many pets are grieved when they die. But pets are also routinely bred in abundance, bought, sold, and euthanized when they are unwanted. The aim of this chapter is to suggest a way of understanding pet keeping in the light of pets’ paradoxical status between “grievable” and “killable.” It argues that the ambiguous conceptualization of the pet as an irreplaceable individual and as a consumable resource corresponds (...) to a biopolitical rationale for breeding, buying, selling and killing pets. The chapter suggests that pet keeping can be regarded as a demarcated zone where biopolitical norms surrounding life and death can be played with, managed and reproduced. (shrink)

This chapter addresses a general question: What is responsible risking? It explores the notion of "responsible risking" as a thick moral concept, and it argues that the notion can be given moral content that could be action-guiding and add an important tool to our moral toolbox. To impose risks responsibly, on this view, is to take on responsibility in a good way. A core part of responsible risking, this chapter argues, is some version of a Forethought Condition. Such a condition (...) requires us to not make decisions or plans such that we could not deliver on our responsibility obligations. This chapter argues that three moral obligations can be derived from descriptive notions of responsibility. They are (1) the control condition, (2) the responsibility to fix condition, and (3) the responsibility to explain condition. The idea is that in order to impose risks responsibly we ought not act in ways that undermine our ability to remain in control over the risks, undermine our ability to sort out negative outcomes by reparations or compensation, or undermine our prospects of providing an explanation for our actions that also makes sense in hindsight and to those affected. This idea is then tried out on the case of germline gene editing. It is argued that such a moral notion of responsibility is also action-guiding when we do not know for certain what is the morally right or obligatory action all-things-considered due to epistemic gaps. (shrink)

Poetry can contribute to theological and philosophical reflection. In this paper, we concentrate our attention on Esaias Tegner's poignant depiction of melancholy, or what we call "existential suffering" in his poem Spleen. We argue the poem can be interpreted as showing that the distinction between theoretical and existential problems of suffering is less clear-cut than often presupposed and that theorizing about the meaning of suffering can have a role to play even when people are experiencing great existential suffering and despair. (...) Based on the speaker's existential struggles in Spleen, we also formulate the novel concept of a hopeful theodicy, a concept we think can be of use more broadly in future research on problems of suffering and theodicy. (shrink)

A frequent justification in the literature for using stated preference methods (SP) is that they are the only methods that can capture the so-called total economic value (TEV) of environmental changes to society. Based on follow-up interviews with SP survey respondents, this paper addresses the implications of that argument by shedding light on the construction of TEV, through respondents’ perspective. It illuminates the deficiencies of willingness to pay (WTP) as a measure of value, presented as three aggregated themes considering respondents’ (...) unintentionality, their retraction once they understood that their WTP could be decisive in cost-benefit analysis and the inherent incompleteness of WTP. We discuss why the TEV discourse persists, how it conceals rather than reveals broader notions of value and in what ways our results support the development of alternative approaches that truly endorse plurality in environmental valuation and decision making. (shrink)

In this paper, I present a cognitive account of aesthetic character of landscape. I develop this in response to Emily Brady, who coined the term to refer to the aesthetic individuality of a landscape, which she argues we ought to conserve. She presents a non-cognitive understanding of aesthetic character, which I argue is flawed on the grounds that it does in fact rely on the perceiver calling on particular knowledge to grasp aesthetic character, fails to explain cases in which aesthetic (...) character is determined by nonperceptual properties and finally does not make a principled distinction between properties that are relevant to aesthetic character and that are not. I argue that a cognitive understanding of aesthetic character does not fail on these accounts. First, it allows us to rely on knowledge to make salient properties relevant to aesthetic character, both for ourselves and reach agreement with others on what a particular landscape’s aesthetic character is like. Second, it accounts for those cases in which aesthetic character is determined by nonperceptual properties, as we access them by knowing about them. Finally, I demonstrate how this cognitive account of aesthetic character works much better in the practical context of landscape conservation. (shrink)

In this essay, I examine the interplay between history, progress, and morality, as it is discussed explicitly or implicitly in the metaethical literature. At first sight, it is perhaps intuitive that these three are necessarily intertwined and mutually dependent, as if they were casually connected. For instance, few would deny that moral progress has occurred throughout history. The abolishment of slavery and the political emancipation of certain groups are seen as obvious signs that morality does indeed progress. Those who believe (...) in de facto moral progress would point to such 'facts' by comparing two states of affairs according to their moral status. Moral progress thus occurs when we move from a "worse" state of affairs to a "better". However, this simple algorithm becomes increasingly untenable once we ask what it means for something to be "better". Better by what measure, better according to whom, better in what sense? Some – moral realists– will argue that as we become increasingly aware of moral truths and as these truths steadily accumulate, progress occurs. Others will argue that there are no moral truths and no moral facts, and a comparison between different states of affairs is impossible because it involves a sort of moral 'historical imperialism' in which we assert our convictions and prejudices upon a time and culture with completely different beliefs. Taken to the extreme, this view gives rise to the idea that moral progress is nothing but a mirage, a psychological necessity without justification. I conclude the essay by arguing that several positions fall short when addressing questions regarding moral progress, and that there are other ways of discussing it which might be more fruitful. (shrink)

This article is a philosophical examination of the six-part documentary series, Cheer, which debuted on Netflix on the 8th of January 2020 to widespread enthusiasm. It centres around a dedicated young cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, and their celebrated coach who rulesthe team with an iron fist, as they prepare forthe annual college cheerleading championship. Part of the attention garnered by the documentary series was directed towards the coach and her unconventional, stern methods of leadership, which, to (...) some, seemed to forego the best interests of the cheerleaders in favour of the pursuit of results. In applying the philosophy of Nietzsche, notably his perhaps most famed work, the enigmatic Thus Spoke Zarathustra, I present an alternate interpretation of the events. Through concepts like the overman, self-overcoming and the will to power, I discuss the possibility of attaining meaning, purpose, self-satisfaction and happiness through suffering. I then conclude by letting the argument propagate into and include the field of sports in general, likening the arduous training and attainment of mastery in sports to what I call the Nietzschean transcendence. (shrink)

One of the most popular Estonian male first names, Jüri, is derived from the name of the Christian martyr Saint George, immortalised in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon as the warrior who rescues a princess by defeating a dragon. The oldest known written attestation of this legend is found in a Georgian 11th century manuscript, the contents of which is retold in the paper. The paper also gives an account of the spread of the personal name Jüri. (...) It is demonstrated that Jüri was among the most popular Estonian male first names in the district of Pärnu already in the 1630s. Numerous family names have been formed from Jüri by adding a derivational suffix or combining Jüri with another word into a compound name. In addition, the element Jüri occurs in compound place names all over Estonia, especially in farm names. The main part of the paper examines common nouns in Standard Estonian and Estonian dialects formed on the basis of Jüri, some of which are related to St. George's name day on April 23, called jüripäev in the Estonian folk calendar. The significance of this day is accentuated by the fact that the month of April is referred to as jürikuu, literally 'the month of Jüri'. There are also several names of plants, fishes and birds that have been formed on the basis of jüri. A separate conceptual group is formed by numerous compound words that characterise a person in terms of professional occupation or individual peculiarity, like tindijüri, 'office worker', literally 'ink-Jüri', or pudrujüri 'a person talking unclearly', lit. 'porridge-Jüri'. (shrink)

According to moral non-naturalism, the kind of genuine or robust normativity that is characteristic of moral requirements cannot be accounted for within a wholly naturalistic worldview, but requires us to posit a domain of non-natural properties and facts. The main argument for this core non-naturalist claim appeals to what David Enoch calls the 'just-too-different intuition'. According to Enoch, robust normativity cannot be natural, since it is just too different from anything natural. Derek Parfit makes essentially the same claim under the (...) heading of 'the normativity objection', and several other non-naturalists have said similar things. While some naturalists may be tempted to reject this argument as methodologically or dialectically illegitimate, we argue instead that there are important limits to what the just-too-different intuition can show, even setting all other worries aside. More specifically, we argue that the just-too-different argument will backfire on any positive, independent specification of the distinction between the natural and the non-natural. The upshot is that the just-too-different argument can show significantly less than non-naturalists have suggested. (shrink)

Charlotte Unruh has recently put forward a hybrid account of what it is to suffer harm – one that combines comparative and non‐comparative elements. We raise two problems for Unruh's account. The first concerns killing and death; the second concerns the causing of temporarily low or high welfare.

Sonification allows for the analysis and interpretation of data through its rendering into sound. It is a method that remains largely unexplored from a digital humanities perspective. The present thesis addresses this research gap by exploring aspects of sonification as a mode of data perceptualization. Methodologically, it combines an extensive review of sonification literature with the design of a sonification prototype. The prototype is created using an exploratory programming approach and is evaluated through a small user study. One of the (...) main challenges of using sonification within the humanities consists in aligning it with humanistic interpretative and critical modes of inquiry, in the thesis understood through the framework of Johanna Drucker’s critical hermeneutics. Another challenge is related to the shortage of existing projects and previous research, and also to a lack of relatively easy-to-use sonification tools. In the thesis, these challenges are primarily made visible through the process of prototype design and through the subsequent user study. Nevertheless, the literature review successfully uncovers a number of potential strategies for the realization of humanistic-interpretative sonification design, focusing especially on the concepts of phenomenology of listening and musical sonification. By applying musical sonification, it becomes possible to move beyond the simple representation of data, allowing instead for interpretative approaches. The findings presented in the thesis provide foundations for future research into humanities sonification. (shrink)

In this paper I identify and discuss a number of features that I argue are necessary for the realization of AGI. As a preliminary step, common definitions of AGI are presented in respect to their understanding of mind, intelligence, and consciousness. I show that, despite the amazing performance of artificial systems, at present they are still far from exhibiting AGI, and I identify some of their central short-comings. Secondly, inspired by research within the philosophy of mind, embodiment and situatedness, I (...) suggest a number of features that I deem necessary for a mind. I then investigate the possible objection against the relevance of these features namely that they are overly anthropocentric or biocentric. I further discuss aspects of these features in relation to their transfer to artificial systems with the goal of creating an artificial mind. I finally conclude that self-reflexivity and the re-creation of the world as an inner world should be strongly focused upon if one wishes to create an artificial mind or artificial consciousness. However, I also issue a warning about some well-known risks when creating AGI. (shrink)

Starting from the experience of watching the role of the teacher turn into a bureaucrat, this work examines the factors dominating current education systems. It identies Human Capital Theory as a main inuence on policy and prioritization decisions in education. A central tension that results from this inuence is the fact that economic theory assumes consumer sovereignty, which dismisses many ideological and political aspects of education as paternalism. This inherent conict between economic theory and educational theory leads to an overemphasis (...) on positional goods, goods that are limited by scarcity, over nonpositional goods, such as knowledge. Educating for positional goods is contrasted to the Spinozistic ideal of education for freedom and for increased conatus. It is then discussed how current assessment practices play a central role in cementing the current hegemony in education as governed by economic concerns. Assessment practices are found to both contribute to current trends in education as well as stabilizing the system overall making transformative change less likely. This is more specically illustrated by two particular assessment practices, namely standardized testing and assessment for learning. It concludes with a search for possible paths to meaningful change in education. (shrink)

Fiduciary Duty is the legal obligation that economic agents must act in the best interests of their beneficiaries, however the legal definition is vague. There are two general categories of ways of interpreting Fiduciary Duty. The dominant, so-called narrow interpretation binds an economic fiduciary to act in the best financial interests of their beneficiaries. There are also broader interpretations which attempt to account for the welfare and/or ethical priorities of the beneficiaries. The narrow interpretation favors the sole prioritization of profit (...) motivation while the broad interpretations favor environmental and social considerations above profit. The historical legal favor enjoyed by the narrow view seems to, at least in part, allow and even encourage the unsustainable exploitation of natural and social resources. On the other hand, favoring broad interpretations seems to undermine the pecuniary interest inherent in the act of investment. In this paper, I will formulate an alternative account of fiduciary duty by analyzing the underlying ethical desiderata put forward by both categories of interpretations and suggesting a synthesis of the views considered. Using John Stuart Mill's Harm Principle, I outline where sufficient conditions are met in investment decisions to make profit motivation a secondary consideration. While the primary ethical framework I will adopt is most influenced by Rawls' contractarianism, I will support my view by showing that my account of fiduciary duty is favorable on several ethical perspectives over existing broad and narrow interpretations, namely deontological, utilitarian, and consequentialist points of view. My conclusion suggests a few possible actions for the goals of future legislation surrounding the economic agent's relationship to their beneficiaries. One, that environmental and social considerations by economic agents are both prudent and loyal to their beneficiaries, meeting the criteria outlined in fiduciary duty. Therefore, taking such considerations in business decisions should not be punishable as it currently is in many jurisdictions. Second, regulations should be proposed that either: A. Restricts investments enabling economic agents that are prone to environmental and social abuses, or B. Makes the beneficiary explicitly aware of the agent’s questionable business practices before they make the decision to invest. My proposed revision of fiduciary duty therefore aims to provide a philosophical framework for current market regulators to respond to environmental and social challenges facing our planet that are posed by economic agents. (shrink)

Digital Transformation (DT) is becoming a comprehensive part of everyday lives. It has become disruptive to the point that it has transformed the way we live, work and interact with each other. One area which has been affected by DT are Public Administrations (PA). DT is changing both the expectations of the performance of PA’s, but digitalization also transforms their objects and processes. To understand how DT affects PA’s, research often addresses external reasoning. This research paper instead explores internal reasoning; (...) that is to say the PA’s organizational culture. It does so by asking what dimensions of Organizational Culture (OC) impacts DT within PA with the conclusion that (1) Communication as a part of OC decelerates DT (2) Competence Development can create acceptance of DT and (3) Social Sustainability holds DT accountable. (shrink)

This article intends to provide an outline of the diversity of philosophical perspecives pertaining to artificial subjectivity, with special regard to non-Western approaches and their potential to contribute to the discussion. The premise is that the popular-scientific as well as academic debate on artificial subjectivity is somewhat narrow, with a bias towards reductionist and functionalist approaches. This prevents the inclusion of the plethora of perspectives inherent in the Western philosophical tradition, while also blocking potentially fruitful input from non-Western traditions. The (...) outsider role of the latter perspectives in relation to the narratives of modern technological society has the clear potential to supplant them where they become myopic, and this overview provides several examples of possibly fruitful contributions. Of particular importance is their evident sensitivity to the political and cultural implications of technology, as well as a set of unique methodologies and approaches suited to uncovering and addressing problems pertaining to the interactions between technology, individuals and society. (shrink)

The redemptive function of science is a central facet of contemporary late-modern mythology, which due to the preeminent discursive hegemony of scientism generally goes more or less unexamined. A kind of redemptive scientism has popularly been acknowledged as simply real and unquestionably true, whereas neither the rationale nor the character of these narratives are sufficiently critically examined. Arguably, the trust in scientific redemption has waned in later years, which due to the narratives' dominant role risks engendering profound effects upon culture (...) and society in general, yet these consequences are difficult to understand since we are insufficiently familiar with the myths that cause them. The purpose of this article is to exemplify the reproduction of such secular eschatologies within the framework of the futurology literature from a period which strongly affirmed and celebrated them. This will hopefully enable us to better understand their character, entrenchment, and ideological consequences, as well as what may follow from a developing rejection of them. (shrink)

The Problem with the Problems of Philosophy : Challenging European Modernity.

Private, Public, Sacred Space : Why gender studies in Particular Should Consider Sacred Space a Third Spatial Category.

Fantastic Antigones : The Tragic Legacy of Trans Grief.

Hannah Arendt : To Think “Without Banisters”.

Feminism and Philosophy : A Matter of History and Politics.

The Emotionalization of Burnout in the Health Care Sector.

Haunting Histories : Regarding the Political Unconscious in the Television Series Stranger Things and the Film Ghostbusters.

What is the relationship between feminism and philosophy today? Although feminist philosophy is now a recognized field in the institution of philosophy, a tension between the terms feminism and philosophy persists. From the perspective of philosophy, feminist philosophy may seem too committed to political change. From the perspective of feminism, the practice of philosophy may seem too far removed from the pressing concerns of injustice in ordinary life. This volume is an interdisciplinary initiative at the intersection of philosophy, the history (...) of ideas, and feminist theory, where philosophy is scrutinized from a feminist perspective and asks questions about what philosophy has to offer feminism. (shrink)

The Child as the Other : Some Epistemological Considerations.

The Inner Landscape of the Body : Phenomenology of Thinking.

Possessing the Past : Revisiting (a Feminist) Swedish 19th Century in Contemporary Fiction.

The Demands of the Historical Unconscious : the Psychopathology of History.

Desiring Difference and the Hierarchies of Time.

Reflections on the Feminist Archive : The Case of the Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand.

In the chapter “Emancipatory Engagement with Oppression: The Perils of Identity in Feminist and Anti-Racist Politics” Oda Davanger argues against basing emancipatory struggles on identity categories. According to Davanger, conceptualizing oppression in terms of different axes, i.e. identity categories, can be harmful to feminist philosophy and ideology since it contri- butes to upholding whiteness and maleness as norms and there- fore fails to “dismantle the system of domination”. In opposition to different versions of identity politics and the analytical and political (...) concept of intersectionality, Davanger complements bell hooks’ notion of imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy with a post-structuralist perspective. Davanger’s answer to feminist and anti-racist struggles based on identity categories is a politics that is built around an “abstract and alienated desire” that makes possible engaging in the struggle for a world without oppression based on identity, regardless of individuals’ own experience of oppression. (shrink)

There has been a long debate about values and science. Especially about the appropriateness of the value-free ideal. The impact of values on science is crucial if science is to maintain its credibility as an undisputed source of knowledge. In this work, I analyze the impact of values in science based on a work by Heather Douglas and try to clarify the difference between epistemic and non-epistemic values and the relevance of the value-free ideal. My conclusion is that Douglas' claims (...) about the inappropriateness of the value-free ideal do not hold and should be rejected. I propose instead a reformulation of the value-free ideal based on the justification of knowledge. (shrink)

In Sweden today, the forestry industry is criticized by environmental activist networks and organizations for using clear-cutting to harvest forests, which causes great harm to biodiverse-rich forests. Although youth voices are less represented in environmental politics, they find ways to affect these through their engagement in social movements. While current research focuses on global environmental movements, there is a lack of in-depth studies about environmental youth movements on a local scale. This study aims to understand youths’ motivations and experiences in (...) protecting forests from deforestation within a Swedish environmental organization. Moreover, this study looks closely at youths’ strategies, what opportunities and obstacles they face, and how their engagement affects them. For this qualitative study, eight individual semi-structured interviews, combined with a participant observation, were conducted. The data was analyzed by using thematic analysis, where six themes were constructed. My results show that the organization is not solely focused on activism or opposition. Rather it provides them with companionship, fun, and learning – combined with activism, which helps them cope with eco-anxieties. Instead of taking the fight for climate justice to the streets, they inventory forests, use civil disobedience, educate, and inspire others to become engaged. In conclusion, the fact that this is a youth organization provides a community that empowers and encourages youth to feel included and express their environmental agency. (shrink)

This thesis explores the transformative potential of the co-authorship dynamic between game developers and players in The Squared Circle, an abstract video game designed to facilitate personality development. Drawing inspiration from existentialist philosophy, psychotherapy, and game design, the study examines the intricate interplay between gameplay mechanics, narrative depth, and psychological exploration. Employing a research-through-design methodology, the researcher analyzes The Squared Circle’s elements through psychological, philosophical, and ludological literature. The game's initial focus on engaging gameplay mechanics evolved to incorporate textual significance (...) and symbolic play, inspired by Carl Jung's theory of Individuation. Through playtesting, observations, and interviews, the study investigates the psychological and philosophical effects of the game. Players engage in symbolic representation and journaling, delving into their unconscious aspects and exploring personal experiences within the game world. The co-authorship dynamic fosters introspection expands self-understanding, and invites transformative experiences. The findings highlight the significance of journaling and symbolic play as tools for personal growth and self-expression within the game. Players navigate the symbolic landscape, uncover hidden meanings, and co-create their own narrative, leading to increased self-awareness and psychological integration. This research contributes to understanding games as a medium for personal transformation and psychological exploration. The study underscores the importance of co-authorship, journaling, and symbolic representation in designing games that facilitate introspection, meaningful experiences, and the development of the player's personality. (shrink)

In his seminal work Strangers in Our Midst (2016a.), David Miller develops his version of liberal nationalism, where he argues for liberal states being justified in requiring immigrants to integrate themselves culturally before giving them access to formal citizenship equal to native citizens. Elsewhere, Miller (2016b.) has also expressed that there are instances when states are justified in revoking citizenships for national security reasons. This paper argues that these positions held by Miller are inconsistent with each other. To make the (...) case against Miller for why this is, three arguments are presented. Firstly, the strict immigration policy suggested in liberal nationalism is permissible because once it is successfully completed, the naturalised citizen gains equal standing in citizenship to native born citizens. If denationalisation is applied in conjunction, but only to some, then their citizenship statis is not equal, and thus the justification for liberal nationalist immigration policy is undermined. Secondly, while it might otherwise be plausible that this injustice is permissible by viewing dual citizens secondary citizenship as a protective privilege, the necessary integration in liberal nationalism makes this response less believable. Finally, one of the most important objectives in liberal nationalism is to promote trust between members. If dual citizens are the only ones who can have their citizenship revoked, and the only reason for this is on suspicion of terrorism, then this risk promoting mistrust against these individuals, making the combination of liberal nationalism and denationalisation self-defeating. (shrink)

This paper investigates the compatibility between the theoretical framework of the global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT) of conscious processing and the perturbational complexity index (PCI). Even if it has been introduced within the framework of a concurrent theory (i.e. Integrated Information Theory), PCI appears, in principle, compatible with the main tenet of GNWT, which is a conscious process that depends on a long-range connection between different cortical regions, more specifically on the amplification, global propagation, and integration of brain signals. Notwithstanding (...) this basic compatibility, a number of limited compatibilities and apparent differences emerge. This paper starts from the description of brain complexity, a notion that is crucial for PCI, to then summary of the main features of PCI and the main tenets of GNWT. Against this background, the text explores the compatibility between PCI and GNWT. It concludes that GNWT and PCI are fundamentally compatible, even though there are some partial disagreements and some points to further examine. (shrink)

A definition of abstract logic is presented. This is used to explore and compare some abstract logics, such as logics with generalised quantifiers and infinitary logics, and their properties. Special focus is given to the properties of completeness, compactness, and the Löwenheim-Skolem property. A method of comparing different logics is presented and the concept of equivalent logics introduced. Lastly a proof is given for Lindström's theorem, which provides a characterization of elementary logic, also known as first-order logic, as the strongest (...) logic for which both the compactness property and the Löwenheim-Skolem property, holds. (shrink)

In addition to ordinary conversations among relatively small numbers of individuals, human societies have public conversations. These are diffuse, ongoing discussions about various topics, which are largely sustained by journalistic activities. They are conversations about news – what is happening now – that members of various groups (such as the residents of a certain country, a certain town, or practitioners of a certain profession) need to know about in their capacity as members of those groups, and about how to react (...) to the news. Our topic in this chapter is a type of resistance to evidence that can arise at the level of these public conversations, rather than at the level of individual agents. We call it “relevance-based resistance to evidence”. A public conversation exhibits this kind of evidence resistance when it becomes overly focused on topics that members of the group that the conversation concerns do not in fact need to know about qua members of the group – topics which are, in a word, irrelevant. We argue that the risks of such relevance-based knowledge resistance are significantly amplified by certain structural features of online discourse. (shrink)

In Favour of Sartre’s Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions.

This paper defends the claim that videogame playing interaction (VGI) is a distinctive kind of interaction compared with other interactive practices. This claim is not grounded in the fact that videogame playing is a digital experience, nor the claim that videogame playing is a video example of gameplay, but rather in two unique characteristics of videogame playing experiences: the controlled identity of players and the temporal continuity. In my view, both Aaron Smuts (2009) and Dominic Lopes (2001)’s theories on interactivity (...) have omitted to discuss these issues sufficiently. By distinguishing between three kinds of interactions according to involved participants and ranking them in the order from weakest to strongest we find: i) interactions between humans and interactive objects, ii) interactions between humans, iii) videogame playing interactions (VGI). In this paper I reflect on the theoretical framework of interactivity and forecast that the strongest form of interaction should be the interaction between human and artificial intelligence supported by technical devices in which human interactors lose overall authority of the continuous interaction. (shrink)

Ever since the advent of computerized methods for solving mathematical problems, the concept of surveyability has played a central role in the debate surrounding what constitutes a mathematical proof. Ordinarily, it is by surveying the argument presented that the mathematician ascertains the truth of the conclusion, but with the advent of computer assisted technologies, there are mathematical conclusions known to be true without anyone ever having been able to survey the argument in its entirety. What this seems to suggest is (...) that what is called "mathematical knowledge" encompasses two different types of knowledge: one gained through the act of surveying a proof, and the other through computerized empirical experiments. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the connection between surveyability and the acquisition of mathematical knowledge, thereby elucidating the difference between the two epistemological categories. The claim is that this can be accomplished by applying Heidegger's account of unconcealment to the notion of mathematical truth, supported by a Wittgensteinian analysis of the act of surveying as a type of reproduction of the proof. While much has been written on how his early mathematical training influenced Heidegger's philosophy, attempts at applying elements from his thinking to problems belonging to the philosophy of mathematics are rare. This investigation has the ambition of making a convincing case for the potential in this kind of approach. (shrink)

The experience of time passing is a fundamental part of the human experience, but what is the relationship between conscious experiences in time and the relativistic nature of space and time? It is natural to think that our phenomenal experiences are realised by neuralevents in our brains. And it seems plausible that the order of these neural events makes a difference to our phenomenology. Yet, relativity theory entails that in some cases these neural events lack objective temporal orders. Instead, their (...) temporal order is different relative to different, equally valid frames of reference. How then is this relativity compatible that intuitively there is only a single, objective way in which things appear to us? This question is at the centre of this thesis. I will present the context of the debate within the theory of Special Relativity and how different problems seem to arise between consciousness and Special Relativity. I will then introduce some basic key concepts for understanding Special Relativity. After introducing the foundation of the problem and a specific formulation that provides the structure of the rest of the thesis, I will present four different possible solutions to the problems, analysing their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, I will use one of the proposed solutions, the objective objection, to argue that the problem never actually arises to begin with and that it is based on a misreading of Special Relativity. I also argue that the objective objection is much more general than its originator proposes. (shrink)

In this paper I am exploring why I am drawn to such labour intensive craft as weaving. In a wider perspective I ask what place slow craft has in our post industrial society. I try to find the meaning of slowness and monotonous work. I do this by repeatedly working with the circle as a motif in my weaves. By growing my own pigments to dye with I examine differ- ent kinds of slow processes. I investigate the meaning embedded in (...) the finished weaves. I come to understand how I use weaving as a way of thinking. (shrink)

Date: 4th of June 2023 Level: Master thesis within Industrial Engineering and Management, Product and Process development – 30 credits. Institution: School of Innovation, Design, and Engineering at Mälardalen’s University Author: Nadia Al-Hakim Title: Lean in the Swedish Armed Forces Keywords: Lean Philosophy; Lean Thinking; Military logistics; JIT Research Question: What are the potential enablers and barriers to adapting the Lean philosophy in military logistics operations? Purpose: This study aims to investigate the potential challenges of implementing the Lean philosophy in (...) the Swedish Armed Forces’ logistics. Methodology: The study was conducted through an abductive research approach using qualitative methods. A theoretical framework was developed by reviewing extant research within the research scope. The empirical findings were based on semi-structured interviews held with six respondents from the Swedish Armed Forces with different positions in logistics. Finally, the empirical findings were analyzed using a conceptual framework that helps the understanding of the different organizational aspects of Lean. Conclusion: This study aimed to explore the challenges of implementing Lean philosophy in the logistics of the Swedish Armed Forces. Identified barriers include the lack of long-term thinking, incoherent definitions of the end-user and quality, high inventory dependence, confidentiality constraints, and procurement regulations. However, some of the identified enablers include the Armed Forces' use of JIT concepts, focus on safety, and strategic partnerships with certain suppliers. (shrink)

This thesis explores Russell’s Paradox and the comparative analysis of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, von Neumann-Bernays-Gödel set theory, and Russell’s Type Theory from a mathematical Platonist perspective, focusing on the ontology of sets. Our conclusion posits that, although these theories have made significant attempts in addressing Russell’s paradox and other inconsistencies of naïve set theory, we currently lack a proper language for expressing set theory that fully captures the underlying Platonic world of sets. Consequently, it is impossible to definitively refute or (...) accept any of the given theories as the ultimate solution the paradox. (shrink)

Do all conscious states structurally necessitate self-consciousness? For many, the answer is affirmative: self-consciousness is an inherent property of phenomenal consciousness. I refer to this family of theses under the denomination of Strong Subjectivity Claim (SSC). However, reports of DIED (Drug-Induced Ego Dissolution) and MIED (Meditation-InducedEgo Dissolution) seem to suggest otherwise: there are at least some extraordinary circumstances under which no sense of self contributes to the resulting phenomenology. Similarly, subjectivity is altered in depersonalisation, a condition whereby the subject feels (...) detached from oneself. I argue that different varieties of self-consciousness are altered or missing in concomitance with ego dissolution and depersonalisation. Nonetheless, I speculate that depersonalisation per se does not involve a lack of basic self-consciousness — while some reports of ego dissolution indicate that even the most minimal formulation of phenomenal self-consciousness is not adequately present. I identify two modalities —boundlessness and centrelessness — whose implication seems to be crucial in experiences of total lack of self-consciousness. All things considered, I conclude that, while self-consciousness could be a frequent feature of our ordinary experience, SSC is not plausible. In the absence of phenomenal self-consciousness, what remains is the epistemic observation that experiences are self-bounded: no one can have access to each other’s experiences in a first-personal manner. This ontological fact, however, need not be accompanied by a corresponding “sense of self”. Finally, I propose an account explaining the conceivableness of selfless self-reports resting on the premise of the subject being conscious and on her dispositional ability for self-consciousness. (shrink)

Joseph Raz defends the authoritative intention thesis, which has it that to the extent that law derives from deliberate law-making, its interpretation should reflect the intention of the law-maker. The idea is that as a matter of conceptual necessity, if one follows legislation, then one interprets the relevant piece of legislation in such a way that it reflects the intention of the law-maker. Raz’s position, then, is that legal content (as well as form) that is the result of deliberate law-making (...) is necessarily communicated content. While I find the authoritative intention thesis appealing, I do not find the arguments that Raz adduces in support of the thesis persuasive. Raz adduces two main arguments in support of the thesis, which I shall refer to as the no-prediction argument and the argument from authority, as well as a third, highly condensed argument, which he mentions in passing in a discussion of another question; and all three arguments involve the assumption that as a matter of conceptual necessity, law aims to function as an authority, and the claims that legal directives that are not interpreted in accordance with the law-maker’s intention, will, strictly speaking, not be the law-maker’s directives, and that this in turn means that the law-maker cannot be in control of the process of legislation and can consequently not function as an authority. As I try to show, all three arguments fail, though in different ways. (shrink)

Terroir in Motion : Making Space for Dynamic Ontologies.

In a dialogue with Catherine Dormor’s book, A Philosophy of Textile (2020), this paper argues that knitting has a unique position in the sphere of textile. To understand the technique as both practice and theory is not only to acknowledge its potency as expression and reflection, but also to perceive textile in a broader perspective. Starting with the article Offset, Buch- und Werbekunst (Offset, Printing, and Commercial Art) written by one of the key figures of the Bauhaus weaving workshop, Gunta (...) Stölzl in 1926, I outline the historical context, and justify the significance of my research. Employing the concept—championed by the artist/psychoanalyst Bracha L. Ettinger—, the Matrix, in particular together with (Inter)relationship, Techne as Dormor suggests, I navigate knitting in general as well as my own practice. By closely inspecting knitting as a mode of both making and thinking, this paper proves that knitting has a capacity to embody multiple layers of time and space, and by doing so, becomes a meaning-making device whose production questions, challenges and overturns hierarchical and binaristic modes of thinking. (shrink)

Background We investigated the personal philosophies of eight persons with a tetraplegic condition (four male, four female), all living in Sweden with a chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and all reporting a good life. Our purpose was to discover if there is a philosophical mindset that may play a role in living a good life with a traumatic SCI. Methods Two rounds of in-depth qualitative interviews were performed by the same interviewer, a philosophical practitioner by training (de Miranda). The second (...) round systematically covered the following elements: bodily sense, sense of self, sense of belonging, sense of the possible, sense of purpose and philosophical sense. This six-step method developed by de Miranda is called SMILE_PH, an acronym for Sense-Making Interviews Looking at Elements of Philosophical Health. Results All the interviewees, as a consequence of their trauma, reported having gone through a reinvention of themselves which implied questioning the meaning and purpose of their life in particular and life in general. A philosophical rather than realistic sense of the possible was abstracted toward teleological growth. All interviewees developed a sense of purpose based on self-interested altruism and solidarity with disabled peers. Conclusions To reinvent a good life with SCI, in addition to physical training and willpower, one needs to consider philosophical questions about the self and life, what Kant called the cosmic interests of reason: What may I hope? What must I do? What can I know? Our results indicate that we should, in the future, explore what the philosophical health approach may bring to rehabilitation processes in the months or years that follow the trauma. (shrink)

The present article is a primary introduction to the semi-structured interviewing method SMILE_PH, an acronym for Sense-Making Interviews Looking at Elements of Philosophical Health. Beyond grounding this new methodology theoretically (a work that is started here but will in the future necessitate several developments), the main motivation here is pragmatic: to provide the recent philosophical health movement with a testable method and show that philosophically-oriented interviews are possible in a manner that can be reproduced, compared, tested and used systematically with (...) a population that has received no training in philosophy. The SMILE_PH approach was conceived by the author during an ethically approved pilot study focused on the philosophy of life of persons living with spinal cord injury (SCI), with the intention of rectifying the epistemic obstacles generated by rationalist, Socratic or unstructured ways of in-depth interviewing. The six-step structure of the method is also inspired by hundreds of individual dialogue sessions with philosophical counselees, led by the author between 2018 and 2022: the SMILE_PH method progressively gathers phenomenological data about 1 – our bodily sense, 2 – our sense of self, 3 – our sense of belonging, 4 – our sense of the possible, 5 – our sense of purpose and 6 – our philosophical sense. (shrink)

This essay argues that Bernard Williams’s political realism presupposes a moral constraint on the political principle of legitimacy, and that Williams’s realism does not articulate a distinctive political normativity. To critically engage with the ethical idea of a moral constraint on political principles, Williams’s ethics is contrasted with Rosalind Hursthouse’s neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics. Williams’s critique of objectivity in Aristotelian virtue ethics says that we have no reason to believe that an individual can harmonise personal needs with capacities to achieve an (...) objectively virtuous character. This is an idea which has not received much attention from neither the political realists themselves nor their critics, and it can be called Williams’s empirical premise. The thesis first criticises the empirical premise from Hursthouse’s neo-Aristotelian perspective which defends the idea that it is not irrational to believe in the harmony of needs and capacities and avoid the empirical premise. The thesis also defends a broader critique of the premise. The broad critique focuses on that even if the empirical premise cannot be refuted, it should be questioned for pragmatic reasons, since specific negative consequences follow from embracing it. Both counterarguments provide good reasons to question Williams’s ethics, and in extension, his political realism. (shrink)

The aim of this chapter is to explore various ways of thinking about the concept of manipulation in order to capture both current and potentially future instances of machine manipulation, manipulation on the part of everything from the Facebook advertising algorithm to super-intelligent AGI. Three views are considered: a conservative one, which slightly tweaks extant influence-based theories of manipulation; a dismissive view according to which it doesn't matter much if machines are literally manipulative, provided we can classify them as so (...) doing to make sense of our interactions with them; and an ameliorative analysis, according to which we should change our concept of manipulation better to make sense of machine manipulation. We tentatively favor the latter. (shrink)

This study examines the ethical balance of children’s autonomy and parents’ responsibility to protect in relation to the digital environment. The balance also relates to the right to privacy which can be limited with the intention to protect the child, but the child’s evolving capacities and autonomy is to be taken into consideration. The purpose is to search for a plausible understanding of the ethical balance of children’s autonomy and the parental responsibility to protect within the context of the digital (...) sphere. This means I make the case that how the child’s autonomy is viewed is fundamental for determining the balance within this context. Two theoretical perspectives on autonomy of Amy Mullin and Joseph Raz are utilized in the study. Additionally, I offer an analysis of a general comment on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment and other material from UNICEF’s research centre Innocenti. (shrink)

In this thesis, I seek to answer the question of what constitutes a tenable form of sexual citizenship for lesbian-, bisexual- and gay citizens by deploying two models of citizenship which have permeated scholarly and public discourse: the “liberal” and the “republican” model. This is done in conjunction with critical engagement with two political philosophers, and their conceptualization of citizenship. They are (1) The capabilities approach by Martha Nussbaum and (2) cosmopolitan federalism as presented by Seyla Benhabib. This thesis uses (...) three primary questions: (1) On what basis are members of the polity chosen? (2) On what basis are the members of the polity able to participate politically? (3) How does the conceptualized model of citizenship account for social- and civil rights pertaining to sexual difference? These questions furthermore establish the basis for the analysis of the models. In order to assess the answers that the different model provide, this thesis utilizes two analytic variables articulated in terms of lack of rights and disenfranchisement which will throughout this thesis act as underpinnings. These variables are predicated on reflecting two mechanisms of exclusions of lesbigay citizens, the claim being that the rejoinders to them are used to assess and constitute to a tenable sexual citizenship. (shrink)

Normative Systems : Core and Amplifications.

Conceptual Structures as Boolean Orderings.

This dissertation contains an introductory chapter and four articles. In section 1 of the introductory chapter, I provide an overview of my argument. In section 2, I do five things. First, I show that well-being is subject-relative, meaning that well-being is always present in a life if it is present at all. Second, I restrict the discussion to people as welfare subjects. Third, I describe the levels of generality that well-being theorising can take. Fourth, I show well-being’s relations to other (...) values. Fifth, I describe the distinction between having or not having positive well-being and enduring ill-being. In section 3 of the introductory chapter, I outline the main philosophical well-being theories. I highlight their strengths and weaknesses, before moving on to section 4 where I describe the conceptual framework I use in my articles: the capability approach. The capability approach focuses on genuine opportunities, beings, and doings. The opportunities, beings, and doings can be specified in different contexts as needed. Hence, capabilitarian analyses focusing on different opportunities, beings and doings, are available. In my articles, I argue for four things regarding those well-being analyses. First, I argue that, and show how, expert opinions and public opinions can be reconciled in well-being policy-making situations. Second, I argue that, and show how, prudentially negative beings and doings should be assessed by analysing cases of homelessness. Third, I argue that the capability approach can be used to offer a complementary account to the predominant philosophical analyses of addiction which mainly focus on its descriptive nature. My complementary analysis highlights further targets for policy-making efforts. Fourth, I argue that well-being is context-sensitive. To that end, I bolster the capability approach by refining a view called contextualism. I defend this view against counterarguments and consequently both contextualism and the capability approach are made more viable. (shrink)

This dissertation is a study of John Buridan's (c.1300-c.1361) conception of modalities. Modal concepts - concepts of necessity, possibility, impossibility, and contingency - describe the ways in which things could and could not be otherwise. These concepts became notoriously central for philosophical discourse in the late Middle Ages. In recent years, Buridan's philosophy and modal theory have received sophisticated scholarly attention. The main contribution of the dissertation is to show new ways in which Buridan's modal theory is embedded in its (...) contextual practical aims, as providing methods for argumentation schemes and analysis used in his natural philosophy and metaphysics. The dissertation is divided into two parts. In Part I, I conduct a detailed analysis of Buridan's account of varieties of modality in logical contexts. In Chapter 2, I show that Buridan distinguishes between broad and restricted forms of necessity in his treatment of logical consequence. Moreover, I show how the distinction between these forms of necessity underpins his modal syllogistics. I argue in Chapter 3 that Buridan acknowledged a variety of modal concepts that are distinguished as a matter of degree. I identify the main modal concepts Buridan's theory reckons with, show how he motivates the distinctions among them, and clarify how they are logically related. Part II turns to applications of Buridan's modal analyses to natural philosophy. In Chapter 4, I address the relationship between necessity with sempiternal truth in Buridan's commentary on Aristotle's De Caelo and compare Buridan's treatment of a key passage in that commentary with the treatment by John of Jandun (c. 1285-1328), a near-contemporary master of arts at Paris. Chapter 5 focuses on Buridan's account of the relationship between power-based concepts of modality and his modal semantics. Chapter 6 describes Buridan's account of contingency in the Physics, and sets Buridan's account of the relationship between forms of contingency and chance against the background of a received debate between Avicenna's and Averroes' views on the subject. Finally, in Chapter 7, I analyse some important applications of Buridan's distinction between logical and metaphysical possibility in physical contexts. I conclude this section by showing how Buridan considered merely conceivable possibilities useful in natural philosophy, and draw further conclusions for investigating the connections between logic and natural philosophy in the later Middle Ages. (shrink)

The multiple-choice video game Life is Strange was described by its French developers as a metaphor for the inner conflicts experienced by a teenager in trying to become an adult. In psychological work with adolescents, there is a stark similarity between what they experience and some concepts of existentialist philosophy. Sartre’s script for the movie Les Jeux Sont Faits (literally “games are made”) uses the same narrative strategy as Life is Strange—the capacity for the main characters to travel back in (...) time to change their own existence—in order to stimulate philosophical, ethical, and political thinking and also to effectively simulate existential “limit situations.” This article is a dialogue between Sartre’s views and Life is Strange in order to examine to what extent questions such as what is freedom? what is choice? what is autonomy and responsibility? can be interpreted anew in hybrid digital–human—“anthrobotic”—environments. (shrink)

Efforts in lifelong learning and competence development in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been on the rise for several years. These initiatives have mostly been applied to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Even though there has been significant development in Digital Humanities to incorporate AI methods and tools in higher education, the potential for such competences in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is far from being realised. Furthermore, there is an increasing awareness that the STEM disciplines need to include (...) competences relating to AI in humanity and society. This is especially important considering the widening and deepening of the impact of AI on society at large and individuals. The aim of the presented work is to provide a broad and inclusive AI Curriculum that covers the breadth of the topic as it is seen today, which is significantly different from only a decade ago. It is important to note that with the curriculum we mean an overview of the subject itself, rather than a particular education program. The curriculum is intended to be used as a foundation for educational activities in AI to for example harmonize terminology, compare different programs, and identify educational gaps to be filled. An important aspect of the curriculum is the ethical, legal, and societal aspects of AI and to not limit the curriculum to the STEM subjects, instead extending to a holistic, human-centred AI perspective. The curriculum is developed as part of the national research program WASP-ED, the Wallenberg AI and transformative technologies education development program. (shrink)

STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—has become important as an educational construct and phenomenon in recent years. However, it is only just recently that STEM education has begun to be examined from a philosophical point of view. There is therefore a need for further investigation of its philosophical basis, particularly in relation to integrated STEM education (iSTEM). Recent conceptual and empirical studies emphasize the crucial role of design in achieving successful STEM integration, and design thinking has also lately gained traction in (...) such integration. The aim of this study is to investigate an integrated philosophy of STEM education, based on the methodological backbone of design. The research methodology consisted of a critical review of the literature regarding the philosophy of STEM (education), science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and STEM education research, related to the current issues of integrating the various STEM subjects. We thus base the philosophical framework on philosophy and studies from/on the STEM subjects in education. It is concluded that from a methodological point of view, design holds promising affordances for unifying the STEM subjects through “pure STEM problems”. Design as part of, for instance, particular engineering design projects may consequently require the “design” of applicable scientific experiments as well as mathematics expressions and formulae specifically when engaging in technological modeling. (shrink)

Using Michel Foucault’s conception of pervasive power, the purpose of this chapter is to analyse the contemporary paradigm of online surveillance from a philosophical perspective by unpacking the power dynamics involved in online surveillance, ultimately arguing, with McKenzie Wark, that there is an asymmetry of power that puts individual persons at risk. I then turn to Martin Heidegger’s notion of Gelassenheit as a helpful way to think through what an intentional stance towards online surveillance might look like that does not (...) escape the paradigm but is at least conscious of its influence. Finally, I utilise Immanuel Kant’s ethics and political philosophy to provide recommendations as to the appropriate ethical relationships that should exist between individual persons, governments, and corporations, ultimately arguing that respect for personal autonomy – that is, the right to choose our lives in accordance with our interests – must be at the forefront of conversations regarding the ethics of online surveillance. (shrink)

Metaethical debunking arguments often conclude that no moral belief is epistemically justified. Early versions of such arguments largely relied on metaphors and analogies and left the epistemology of debunking underspecified. Debunkers have since come to take on substantial and broad-ranging epistemological commitments. The plausibility of metaethical debunking has thereby become entangled in thorny epistemological issues. In this thesis, I provide a critical yet sympathetic evaluation of the prospects and challenges facing such arguments in light of this development. In doing so, (...) I address the following central question: how could genealogical information undermine the epistemic justification of moral beliefs? In Part I, I begin answering the central question by extracting explicit and implicit epistemic principles from three popular debunking arguments. These arguments, due to Gilbert Harman, Richard Joyce, and Sharon Street, generate principles concerning ontological parsimony, explanatory dispensability, epistemic insensitivity, lack of epistemic safety, unexplained reliability, epistemic coincidences, and explanatory constraints on rational belief. Having set out the principles tasked with explaining how genealogical information undermines, Part II of the thesis seeks to evaluate whether debunking arguments built on them succeed. To this end, I consider two types of challenges faced by such arguments. First, there are strategies that attempt to block global moral debunking arguments. I argue that one popular such strategy, the so-called ‘third-factor strategy’, has been misunderstood. When understood correctly, it is of no help in answering debunking arguments. I then flesh out an alternative and more promising strategy for blocking such arguments. I then turn to internal challenges facing debunkers, particularly those who rely on ‘explanationist’ principles. I argue that explanationist debunking arguments, as well as most others, fall prey to one or more of four internal challenges: the implausibility of first-order epistemic principles, the threat of overgeneralization, the threat of self-defeat, and the need for costly metaepistemic commitments. I conclude that current debunking arguments fail to establish that no moral belief is justified. By analyzing why existing arguments fail, I develop two conditions of adequacy that debunkers must satisfy in order to navigate the internal challenges successfully. I end by suggesting future directions that debunkers should pursue to rehabilitate the prospects for global moral debunking arguments. (shrink)